LITTLE ROCK — More than 48,000 Arkansans have lost or are on the verge of losing coverage under the private option or traditional Medicaid — the vast majority of them because they did not respond quickly to a mailed notice, a development some officials have called surprising and troubling.

LITTLE ROCK — More than 48,000 Arkansans have lost or are on the verge of losing coverage under the private option or traditional Medicaid — the vast majority of them because they did not respond quickly to a mailed notice, a development some officials have called surprising and troubling.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted last week for a six-year extension of federal programs for highways, mass transit and infrastructure while acknowledging it needs to come up with more money to pay for the entire bill.

FORT SMITH — American folk song “Wabash Cannonball” will replace Southside High School’s longtime “Dixie” fight song on the heels of a decision this week by the Fort Smith School Board to retire Rebel-related symbols.

LITTLE ROCK — Spotted in January, a way-too-early Top 25 began with TCU. Another one in May was risk-free, endorsing Ohio State. Both were dismissed out of hand. Available online and in various publications, other predictions were given a cursory glance at best.

FAYETTEVILLE – No one has seen the Arkansas football team in almost four months. At last look, things were on the come. That was shown Thursday when the Razorbacks were ranked No. 20 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll.

Opinion

I’ve been a bit out of sorts lately. It’s not that good things don’t happen to me every day, but life’s little travails just seem to have come in a big pack in recent times. As I’ve gotten older, I deal with setbacks better than I would have a few years ago. It’s like picking out splinters — after you’ve done it a couple hundred times, you develop a technique, but you probably don’t want any more practice.

As recently reported by the Arkansas News Bureau, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Wednesday joined 44 other state attorneys general in calling on phone carriers AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and CenturyLink to offer call-blocking technology to their customers. We believe this is a necessary step to improve consumer protection.

In his Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote at 13:12, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” This verse has an interesting relevance today as we note an important turning point in American sports history.